Laylah
Additional Description * Though her surname at birth, NoyesNoyes was chosen in honour of the poet, Alfred Noyes, and rhymes with "noise"; it is not (sorry!) pronounced "no - yes". For general reference, there is an English surname, Noyes, based on the Old English given name Noye; there is also a French surname based on the word "noyer", meaning "a walnut tree". Though probably not too useful for real life genealogical research, these and other factoids about the Noyes surname may be found at The House of Names., is apparently Mercian, Laylah * This is a woman's name in Sanskrit as well as in Arabic (where it is spelled Laila) meaning "Night" and usually denotes '(born at) night)'. * It refers to the heroine of the tragedy Majnun and Laylah, which did in fact inspire the next classic to which this name refers: ** "Layla", by Eric Clapton * It is also intended as a nod to Alf Laylah Wa Laylah, 'A Thousand Nights And A Night', known to most of the English-speaking world in its translation by Richard Francis Burton as Tales From The Arabian Nights. might not entirely be so. Her lips are fuller than one expects those of most Mercian or even Imric women to be. Even in spring and winter, she appears lightly tanned. * She weighs no more than eight stone and hasn't a big bosom-- in fact, in britches, with a loose shirt and a bandage underneath she could pass (and most probably has) for a boy, if one didn't look too closely at her face. * Her ears are pierced with little silver hoops. * Her hair is sometimes braided, or wavy from having been braided, though it is naturally straight. When out and about she is seldom seen without her "lucky" leather headband, a treasured gift handmade by Spaw. * Dressed for town (where she might frequently be seen in such halls of learning as the Cathedral), she almost invariably wears her one best dress, a long-sleeved one in dark reds that falls low on her shoulders, and a shawl of the same color with which she most often self-consciously covers what the dress doesn't. Though in fine condition, it has the look of a handmedown, and she is very careful of it. * Aside from a book or slate and pencil or scroll and pen, the thing her hands are most often busy with in times of peace is knitting-- always so far on an item or items in red wool. She's also been seen grinding herbs with a mortar and pestle. Biography (It's no fun telling everything at once. Below are some details that strangers might easily overhear.) Laylah was acquired this last winter by her Thane for not quite as much as the cost of a good suit of armour, as the result of some misadventure which has left her hating both pirates and horsethieves even more than most folks do. Her origins before that time are not generally known. She has been heard upon certain occasions referring to Mercians almost as if they were a foreign people. After training as a Pursuivant of Arms under Twyster Stronngust in the Royal College of Heralds of the Kingdom of Hyperion, Laylah became a Herald on behalf of the Thanedom of Sancta, as any holdings claimed by the Cicatrices Bellorum are known. In gatherings, she is always listening intently, or even scribbling notes. At the lightest provocation, she will tell how she acquired her rather noticeable tattoo from the hands of Spaw Kindred, Esquire, an apprentice Knight and combat leader of Warbound. Should anyone ask, it's for this gentleman that the red scarf on which she's working so constantly is intended. Contact A Herald's work is never done. Outside of this and other Games, please address all questions and requests to Miss Kindred in that role by one of the following: * Private Messages: ** Care of Najwalaylah@gmail.com * Public Messages: ** This character's Talk Page. References Category:Character Backgrounds